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H. P. ANDBESEN;

SIGN.

APPLHIATION FILED AR. 8, WW.

Patented Sept. 23, 1919.

n \\\\\\\\m W//////// HERMAN P. ANDRESEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SIGN.

Application filed March 8, 1919. Serial No. 281,441.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN P. ANDRE- SEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, Cook county, State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signs, of which the following is a specification. v,

My invention relates generally to signs and methods for the production thereof, but relates more particularly to signs such as are used out of doors, a typical example of which is a street or road sign.

Signs of this character in order that they may be easily read from a moving vehicle, and in the night as well as the day, must have the greatest possible contrast in colors of characters and background. It ,has been customary to provide signs which are painted or enameled on'wood or metal. Paint wears off, 'bleaches, and becomes marred or obliterated. For these reasons, frequent repainting by experienced sign letters is necessary and high maintenance cost is the consequence.

Enamel, being very brittle, chipsand. cracks. As signs are very frequently used as targets by persons shooting and throwing stones or other missiles, they quickly become chipped, and once the enamel is removed from the sheet steel, of which the body ofthe sign is generally composed, the

sign rusts, becomes unsightly and illegible. Enamels also bleach until so little contrast remains between characters and background that the sign is no longer readable.

Outdoor signs are, of course, constantly subjected to the elements such as intense sunlight, changes of temperature, rain, snow,

etc. Not only does this result in bleaching and loss of contrast in colors of paints and enamels, but also causes warping, splitting and rotting of wood or rusting of the metal whichever may form the body of the sign.

The general object of my invention is to provide a sign that shall be the better adapted to withstand service conditions imposed upon an outdoor sign, than those hitherto devised.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sign of such character that the surface thereof will not {be easily chipped, cracked. bleached or worn off and that the body of the sign will not become marked, split, broken, rotted or' rusted; and in which the contrast between characters and background shall be maiiitained Without attention, throughout the natural life of the sign, or in any event over 2. Ion period of years.

Again it is an object o my invention to provide a sign composed of two difl'erent substances, one thereof forming the characters and the other a background, the materials having that characteristic by virtue of which they will maintain their original colors and characteristics when subjected to air, sunlight, Water and other outdoor conditions.

A further object of my invention is to provide a method whereby an outdoor sign can be produced rapidly at low cost.

My invention consists generally in the form, composition and arrangements of the materials, and also in the steps, acts and sequence thereof, whereby the above named objects, together with others that will appear hereinafter, are attained; and my invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings wherein I have depicted generally steps to be followed in the production of sign embodyingmy invention and also the sign as a completed article.

Therein: Figure 1 is a face view of a plate which is to form part of the sign; Fig. 2 illustrates a further step in the production of the sign wherein letters have been formed by oflsetting portions of the plate from the original plane of the plate; Fig. 3 is a face view of the complete sign; Fig. 4; is an enlarged sectional View substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4,5116

illustrating a modified form of my invention; Fig. 6 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4:, but illustrating another form of my invention and Fig. 7 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 5 but illustrating still another form of my invention.

In that embodiment of my invention shown inFigs; 1 to l of the drawings, I choose a metal plate 1, to serve as one of the materials of the sign. This plate may be composed of different metals or of different metal alloys, but the characteristic of the plate or sheet should be such that when subjected to atmospheric conditions of rain, sunlight, high winds and the abrading action of sand and other materials directed against it, that it will not bleach, oxidize, (rust), or deteriorate, but on the contrary- Specification' of Letters Patent. Patented Se t. 23, 191g will maintain its original characteristics of color, form and stability. One such suitable material is aluminum, since it has a relatively light or bright appearance, which in the air or water acquires only a very thin film of closely adhering oxid, acting as a'sort of varnish, which in turn prevents further oxidation and action by atmospheric gases and water. I wish it to be understood, however, that the material aluminum, is cited by Way of illustration and not by way of limitation, except when expressly so limited in the claims. Thus while I do not consider them so good at the present time, galvanized iron, zinc or aluminum-bronze, or plates of other materials may be used. After choosing the metal plate and giving it the desired form or size, I next form the desired letters therein by offsetting portions of the metal from the original plane of the plate or sheet, forming the Word or charac ter desired. For example, in Fig. 2, the word Will stands for Will street or road, is impressed in the plate. At the .same time that the letters or characters are any other desired manner. The sign as thus far produced, while it is readable upon close observation and in broad daylight, becomes unreadable at a distance, when movin rapin a vehicle or in the dusk or dar mess.

idly s a next step, therefore, I proceed to surill round the letters with a mat or body of'material of a contrasting character, such as will cause the letters to stand out in bold relief and to be easily visible at a considerable distance, in a dim lightv and when passing rapidly by the sign. The material that I prefer to futilize for this purposeis one which, like the material from which the letters are formed, is of such characterasto maintain its identity both in color, form and stability when subjected to the very severe service conditions before mentioned; and since the material of the plate in the present. instance, is aluminum, havin a light metal-- lie luster, I prefer to choose or this urposea bituminous material such as asp altum,

tar, or compounds thereof, for the reason that such materials in color are permanently black, and are substantially unaffected by weather conditions or rain, sunlight, wind,

I etc., and are themselves Weatherproof materials. Materials of this nature have another characteristic which makes them particu larly suitable for this purpose and that is, that when subjected to a workable temperature they become sufficiently plastic so that they can be flowed or easily spread upon the plate as may be necessary to form the mat or border around the letters. Thus in Figs. 3 and at the letters 2 are bordered or surrounded by a body of material, 3, preferably having the characteristics just enumerated. The riglitangular lines upon the face of the sign in'Fig. 3 indicates black or a dark color and not roughness of the material.

In Fig. 4 I have shown an enlarged cross section through the sign wherein it will be seen that in this example the letter, 2, is offset outwardly from the original plane of the plate indicated at 8'; and the contrasting material 3 is then placed around it. With a sign of this character the material 3 can be worn or reduced from W to the line W, see Fig. 4 and yet the sign will be absolutely unaltered in appearance or stability and will to all intents and purposes be as easily readable and self-preservative as when originally erected. When the material 3 wears away to the plane 1, the sign can be easily made as good as new by simply spreading or applying quantity of the material 3 around the letters until a body thereof is built up to the desired height or thickness. It is not anticipated that this will ever be necessary especially when one considers that the body of material 3 is not a mere film such as a coat of paint or varnish, but on the contrary is a thick layer or body of material such that it will withstand service conditions over a long period of years. guish the thick layer of material 3 from a film of paint or varnish, or enamel, I shall tention of any kind, and neither the face of the letter nor the surrounding bodyof filler material will be chip ed off when hit by stone or other missile. hile a stone or other missile may make a small dent in the material 3, where it is struck (if struck hard enough) the material is of such consistency that it will not crack or chip bility of, the sign is unafiected.

I, stated withrespect to the formation of L the letters in the sheet of metal, that they wereformed by offsetting them with respect to the' initialfplane of the metal, and in the *formshovvn in Figs. 3 and 4, the letters are and the. legishown as being offset outwardly, i. 6., em-

bossed, but I wish it to be understoodthat ios my'invention is inno wise limited to such construction. Because the letters instead of being offset outwardly may be offset inwardly, 2'. 6., sunk. Such a construction is shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing wherein 5 represents the original plane of the metal and 5 the offset or countersunk ortion, defining a letter of the word or sym 01. When such a construction is resorted to the recess provided by the sinking of the metal is pref- 4.5 'in color, such for eXample,'-as a very pure and hence'non-oxidizable iron. Therein the material 6, bein erably filled with the asphaltum, tar or other material of the character heretofore described. In this instance, to avoid confusion I have applied the reference character 6 to the body filler material. When the form of my invention shown in Fig. 5 is used and'the plate is made of aluminum, it is obvious that the letters are black and that they are surrounded by the light metallic aluminum face, which causes the contrast that enables them to be very easily read. It will also be understood that the body of g of a very considerable thickness,will w1thstand service conditions over a long period of years, and in the event that it should wear away eventually, can be very easily replaced. I might here add that in the matter of replacement both in that form of my invention described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4t and with that form of my invention now under discussion, to main tain the well defined and easily readable character of the letters can be accomplished by an ordinary unskilled workman, as in the first instance it is, a mere matter of filling the material around the embossed letters and in the other instance the replacement of the material within a sunk or recessed portion, all of which present well defined lines.

'andhence form a firm guide for the work'- man'."""lhis permits such work tobe attended to by ordinary, workmen where a painted sign would requirea skilled sign painter or 'letterer.

l r being composed ofalhrightmetal plate and f5 dark body filler materiaLI may reverse the While I'have sofardescribed the signas characteristics of the. materials and'Tuse a plate of dark material; and

40 1 -When it is. desirable to have blackletters formed by the plate I may use theconstruction shownin Fig. 6, wherein 7 is a plate material of a lightmaterial,

formed of the material such as to be unaffected by atmospheric conditions and dark letters are formed by ofl'setting them outcated by 8. In this instance I build upon wardly from the original plane of; the metal, one such ofl'setportlon being indi- U and surround the letters with a body filler material 9, likewise of such-character as to be unaflected by atmospheric conditions and having a white or bright color. One such suitable materialis ground or pulverized aluminum secured together by a. suitable.

binder such that it can be applied in plastic form to the plate and thereafter sufficiently set or harden to adhere firmly to the plate.

In this manner a sign having dark letters within a surrounding Or bright mat is secured.

Another method of securing white or bright letters upon a black or dark backand also in less light.

ground is illustrated in Fig. 7, wherein the I white or bright color and of such character as to be unaffected by atmospheric conditions, for examplaground or flake aluminum, secured into an adhering mass by a suitable binder. In this manner a sign is secured in which the plate forms the black or dark mat and in which the bright letters are formed by the filler material.

' While I have illustrated signs in which the letters are formed, in oneinstance of white bright material and in the other instance of black or dark material, I prefer the bright letters with surrounding mat or background of black, for the reason that a smaller bright letter upon a black background has the appearance of a letter of much larger size, due to the phenomenom of irradiation, and for this reason can be read at a greater distance It thus becomes apparent that my inventive ldea'may be embodied in a variety of forms, but that-in allthereof will be found the characteristic of two contrasting color materials which are preferably of such character as to be substantially unaffected by atmospheric conditions, of sunlight, gases,

water, etc., I shall hereinafter refer to them as atmospherically permanent materials, and to that character of material in virtue of which it may be struck by a missile without fracturing or chipping as an infrangi ble material. I a 1 w Since this disclosure will readily suggest to others skilled in the art to which this appertains, various modified ,forms of signs and modlfications of the method of producing same, I do not wish to be limited to the N specific materials herein described, nor to the form of the sign herein shown, nor to the precise method of producing same, ex-

in the hereunto appended claims.

I P y as y be ary by limitations a The Wordp as used in the claims is to be construed broadly and includes plastic compositions as well as plastics strictly defined.

I claim:

1. A sign embodying therein two atmos- I pherically permanent 'color' contrasting plate having characters therein offset from;

the plane of the body of the plate and the.

materials, one thereof being a bright metal other a bituminous body filler material care ried by the plate, of a thickness extending a considerable distance up the sides of the characters, and co acting with the oifset characters thereof in forming a contrast between the characters and surrounding portion.

2. A sign embodying therein two atmospherically permanent color contrasting materials, one thereof being an aluminum plate having integrally upwardly formed bright metal characters therein and the other a bituminous body filler material surrounding the characters and forming a mat or background therefor and of a thickness extending a considerable distance up the sides of the characters.

3. A sign embodying therein two atmospherically permanent color-contrasting materials one thereof being a plate in which characters are provided in a plane'offsct from the plane of the body of the plate and i the other a body plastic filler material carried by the plate, of a thickness suflicient to extend from the base of the characters at least a considerable distance up the sides thereof, and co-acting with the character portions in forming a contrast between the characters and surrounding portion.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 27th day of February, 1919, in the presence of two. subscribing Wil nesses.

HERMAN P. ANDRESEN. Witnesses:

ARTHUR 7M. NELsoN, HELEN GILLEN. 

